Doug Robinson: Norm Chow didn't learn from LaVell Edwards' example

Hawaii head coach Norm Chow, center, and the rest of the football team hold a moment of silence to honor running back Willis Wilson before the start of their NCAA college football game against Army Saturday, Nov. 30, 2013, in Honolulu. Wilson apparently drowned early this morning while swimming at Sandy Beach on Oahu's eastern shore. (AP Photo/Eugene Tanner)

Former BYU offensive coordinator Norm Chow struggling as a head coach -- and kicking reporters out of spring practice because of "negative" coverage isn't going to help his cause

By the end of this column, I won’t be welcome at University of Hawaii football practices, if I happen to be in the neighborhood.

That’s because I’m about to write something “negative” about Norm Chow, Hawaii’s head football coach, who likes only “positive” stories, even after one-win seasons. Football coaches are not like car batteries, which require positive and negative to keep charged.

Chow recently threw a fit. During spring practice last week he ordered all media to stop interviews with players and coaches. Why? Because Honolulu Star-Advertiser columnist Dave Reardon was present. Chow reportedly yelled at Reardon that he was not welcome at practice — which had been opened to the public — and therefore all interviews must be stopped (Reardon volunteered to leave, but that didn’t change anything).

Chow, who later apologized, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that he was angry about a column that Reardon had written that was critical of the coach’s decision to hire Kevin Clune, the Utah State linebackers coach, as defensive coordinator (even coaches with 4-20 records can’t be second-guessed).

Predictably, that backfired. Don’t like negative coverage? Then create more. Reardon’s column the next day ran at the top of Page 1: “Coach’s tantrum adds another loss to bleak record.” Talk about a gift for a columnist who is looking for something to write about during the dull spring season.

Chow of course is well known in Utah. He played for the University of Utah and coached at BYU from 1973 to 1999. He also coached at Utah in 2011. He was the offensive coordinator during BYU's glory years. When he didn’t get the head coaching job to replace the retiring LaVell Edwards he left in a huff, and all this led to was fame and fortune elsewhere — one year at North Carolina State; three years at USC; three years with the Tennessee Titans; three years at UCLA; one year at Utah; two years at Hawaii and counting.

As I read about Chow’s tantrum, I recalled two experiences I had at BYU:

Many years ago Chow and I were visiting in his office at BYU. Publicly, he had always said that he had the best job in coaching and that he was content as an assistant coach. But in private Chow yearned to be a head coach and this became apparent in our conversation. At one point, I ventured my opinion: Stick with an assistant’s job, I told him; he was too thin-skinned to be a head coach. He would hate it. I had been around him enough to know that he collected grudges against fellow coaches and media, and he dreaded talking to reporters. Why not do what he does best — run offenses? Why tempt the Peter Principle? Not all good assistant coaches make good head coaches. A head coach has to be able to deal with media and criticism and a lot of things that Chow doesn’t like and that have nothing to do with coaching, which brings me to

The second thing I remembered: Years ago a certain reporter wrote a story that was highly critical of LaVell Edwards. I thought it was even a little mean. Yet the next day, during a practice at BYU, I saw Edwards talking to the reporter one-on-one, answering his questions patiently and acting as if nothing had passed between them. Later, when I found myself alone with Edwards, I asked him about this — how had he managed to treat the reporter so kindly and considerately? His answer went something like this: “I decided a long time ago that if I were going to hold grudges, it would get to be too much and pretty soon there would be too many to keep track of.”

Edwards always seemed above the fray, and that had its rewards. As columnist Lee Benson once noted, one of the remarkable things about Edwards is that, in an intense and competitive business where bad feelings were almost inevitable, he had no enemies. Even the coaches from archrival Utah liked him. As a result, Edwards didn’t have to worry about bumping into someone he had crossed, and he had nothing keeping him awake at nights. He also didn’t have to issue embarrassing apologies.

Popular Comments

Chow doesn't have the same persona as Lavell Edwards. But Doug Robinson
let's avoid the pot calling the kettle black. In all your years covering
BYU did you not mostly have positive interactions with Chow? I'm guessing
you did,
More..

9:45 p.m. April 8, 2014

Top comment

TrueBlue

Orem, UT

Norm Chow showed his true colors when he refused to allow a transfer from Hawaii
to BYU to play last season.

He thrived as an assistant coach when all
he had to do was deal with teaching football skills and calling plays, but
he's a
More..

6:59 a.m. April 9, 2014

Top comment

morpunkt

Glendora, CA

We can also learn from Coach John Wooden. He also never held grudges. He was a
truly a committed Christian man who believed in practicing forgiveness. And by
the way, he got great results, both on and off the court.

Doug Robinson is a general columnist, sports columnist and feature writer for the Deseret News, where he has worked since 1978. He began his career as a sports writer. "Everything I am today I blame on Lee Benson," he more ..